128 GAME SHOAL-WATER FOWL. 



of the back with the margin and a central streak 

 yellowish-brown ; the rest of the scapulars similar, 

 but with the light streak on the outer web. 

 The wings are nearly as in the male ; the spe- 

 culum similar, but with less green. The lower 

 parts are dull olive, deeper on the lower neck, 

 and spotted with brown. 



Length, 22 inches ; weight, from 2 lbs. to 2i. 



The young acquire the full plumage in the 

 course of the first winter. 



Mallards breed in small numbers in the various 

 swamps and sloughs of the Western country, but 

 by far the greater number betake themselves to 

 the unknown regions of the north, and there, 

 unmolested, rear their young. The month of 

 August is hardly over before they again begin to 

 make their appearance in the more northern of 

 the Western States, but the shooting of them 

 cannot be said to have fairly commenced until 

 about the middle of September. After that time, 

 and until the freezing of the waters drives them 

 further south, the numbers killed are sometimes 

 almost incredible. Their habits vary consider- 

 ably in the different localities which they fre- 

 quent, and at different times, and various means 

 arc employed for their capture, the most practi- 



